C (musical note)

"Low C" redirects here. For the song by Supergrass, see Supergrass.

Middle C  Play (help·info).

C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B♯.

Middle C

Middle C is designated C₄ in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard. While other note-octave systems (including those used by some manufacturers of digital music keyboards) may refer to "Middle C" with a different designation, the C₄ designation is the most commonly recognized in auditory science and in musical studies^{[citation needed]} it is frequently used in place of the Helmholtz designation c'.

While the expression "Middle C" is generally clear across instruments and clefs, some musicians tend to use the term to refer to the C note in the middle of their specific instrument's range. For example, C₄ may be called "Low C" by someone playing a Western concert flute (which has a higher and narrower playing range than a piano), while C₅ (523.251 Hz) would be "Middle C". This technically inaccurate practice has led some pedagogues to encourage standardizing on C₄ as the definitive "Middle C" in instructional materials across all instruments.^[1]

Within vocal music the term Soprano C,^{[citation needed]} sometimes called High C, is the C two octaves above Middle C. It is so named because it is considered the defining note of the soprano voice type. It is also called C₆ in scientific pitch notation (1046.502 Hz). In Helmholtz notation, it is c'''.

The term Tenor C is sometimes used in vocal music^{[citation needed]} to refer to C₅ as it is the highest required note in the standard Tenor repertoire. The term tenor C can also refer to an organ builder's term for small C or C₃ (130.813 Hz), the note one octave below Middle C. In stoplists it usually means that a rank is not full compass, omitting the bottom octave.^[2]

The term Profondo C is sometimes used in vocal music to refer to C₂ as it is usually considered the dividing line between bassi profondi and other bass voice types. A profondo can sing this note easily while most other basses cannot.

For the frequency of each note on a standard piano, see piano key frequencies.

Designation by octave

Scientific designation	Helmholtz designation	Bilinear music notation	Octave name	Frequency (Hz)
C-1	C͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵C	(-uC)	Subsubcontra	8.176
C0	C͵͵ or ͵͵C	(-vC)	Subcontra	16.352
C1	C͵ or ͵C	(-wC)	Contra	32.703
C2	C	(-xC)	Great	65.406
C3	c	(-yC)	Small	130.813
C4 (Middle C)	c′	(zC)	One-lined	261.626
C5	c′′	(yC)	Two-lined	523.251
C6	c′′′	(xC)	Three-lined	1046.502
C7	c′′′′	(wC)	Four-lined	2093.005
C8	c′′′′′	(vC)	Five-lined	4186.009
C9	c′′′′′′	(uC)	Six-lined	8372.018
C10	c′′′′′′′	(tC)	Seven-lined	16744.036

Graphic presentation

Middle C in four clefs

Position of Middle C on an 88-key keyboard

See also

• Piano key frequencies
• Eighth octave C (C₈)
• C major
• C minor

References

1. ^ Large, John (February 1981). "Theory in Practice: Building a Firm Foundation". Music Educators Journal 32: 30–35. 
2. ^ Wakin, Daniel J. (2007-09-09). "The Note That Makes Us Weep". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/weekinreview/09wakin.html. Retrieved 2007-12-12.